Ricardo: Hi Tourism-Myanmar.com! I read lots about Bagan, Mandalay and Yangon, however I am very interested in going to beach destinations in Myanmar. When would be the best time of the year for me to visit your beach resorts? What and where are the beach destinations in Myanmar ?

Answer

PKTan: Hi Ricardo. Myanmar monsoon season is between July to September, thus best time to go to Myanmar beaches is between November and April. The peak season is normally during November until middle of January, while the low season starts around May until mid October. The weather in the beach areas during the very dry and sunny season can reach up to 30°C and a bit above during the day. However, in the evening, the wind from the sea can be quite chilly, reaching as low as 15°C.

The beaches with easy access are mainly on the west coast at the Bay of Bengal . Beach destinations from the south to north: New Saung, Chaungtha, Kanthaya, Ngapali Beach (most popular and pristine water!). There are also a few other resorts opening soon in southern Myanmar , such as Maungmagan at the Andaman Sea . This area and the Myeik Archipelago are still not easily accessible, nevertheless, very pristine resort areas!

Ricardo: I read from somewhere that it is necessary for me to exchange US$200 into Foreign Exchange Currency (FEC) upon arrival in Myanmar . Does this requirement still exist?

Answer

PKTan: Hi Ricardo, the Foreign Exchange Currency requirement for USD 200 upon arrival no longer exists. There is no compulsory exchange in place.

Richard: Been thinking of visiting Myanmar, unfortunately i can only go between July and September. What is the weather like during this period? Is this a good time to travel within the country? Which of these months is best to travel: July, August, or September?

Answer

PKTan: Hi Richard. I’m glad you’ve decided to visit Myanmar! Unfortunately, July August and September is the monsoon period and is raining everyday around the southern part of country ( Yangon area). However, if you travel to upper Myanmar where most of the famous tourist sights are situated, the rain is not so bad.

Mrauk U

Mrauk U Travel Guide

• Why Not Go
• Why Go
• Best Time to Visit
• Where to Stay
• Where & What to Eat
• Nightlife
• To Do List
• Stay Away From
• Getting There

Mrauk U (pronounced as mia wu) is a medieval town and archaeological site in Rakhine State, Central Myanmar. The archaeological remains in Rakhine (formerly known as Arakan), date back between the 15th and 16th centuries.

The main attractions are the temples and ruins around the town. The remains of the main palace roughly form the centre of the town.

The difference between Mrauk U temple and Bagan’s is that Mrauk U’s temples are only a few hundred yrs old compared to the thousand years old in Bagan. And, Mrauk U’s are built during regional conflict period. thus are more like fortresses.

Why Not Go

Time consuming & Expensive: Probably 5 days required for a Mrauk U itinerary. You will have to fly into Sittwe and out and take a boat – which can be quite expensive if you don’t have people to share it with. Using the government boat would mean you’d need to allow at least another day, maybe two to the round trip.

Mrauk U Temples do not rival Bagan. Neither in Quantity nor quality.

Why Go

The temples are very different from those at Bagan.
Only recently become a reachable tourist destination, It is relatively untouristed and you get a going back in time feeling.

Best Time to Visit

The Rakhine State is situated within the tropical zone and the weather is warm and humid. Since it is a coastal region of Myanmar, rain and clouds are expected.

The best time for tourists to visit Mrauk U is from late November early December when the rains have gone. Crystal clear sky; lush and green landscapes; blooming flowers.

However any time from late November to March is a good time to travel.

Where to Stay

Where & What to Eat

Nightlife

My to do List

The most impressive of these historical edifices is the Shitthaung Temple, a fortress-like temple known for its labyrinth of tunnels while the Andawthein Ordination Hall, Ratanabon Pagoda, Dukkhanthein and Laymyetnha are other sites of cultural and archaeological value.

Rent a bike and cycle around to all the main sites in one afternoon/early evening

Stay Away From

Getting There

The most popular mode for tourists to travel to Mrauk U is to take a domestic flight from Yangon to Sittwe and board a boat from Sittwe against the Kaladan River. The hotels in Mrauk U also arrange private boat services to and fro Sittwe.

The government boat to Mrauk U left at 7 am, cost 10$ and took about 4 hours. It runs both ways every day – bar Sunday/Monday.

IF the govt boat isn’t operating when you wanna go you can hire a private boat simple enough (touts will be at the airport)

No boats are allowed to leave after 4 pm. So if you arrive at 1, you should be able to get a regular boat and get to Mrauk U about dark.

overnight bus from paye to Taungok then fast boat to Sittwe the flights tend to be from Yangon -Sittwe-Thandwe.

There is a highway from Yangon to Sittwe via Mrauk-u, you be required to get special permission, which will take several weeks, and cost a lot. Your travel conditions may require you to go with a licensed tour guide.

Inle Lake

Inle Lake Travel Guide

• Why Not Go
• Why Go
• Best Time to Visit
• Where to Stay
• Where & What to Eat
• Nightlife
• To Do List
• Stay Away From
• Getting There

A watery world of floating gardens, stilted villages and crumbling stupas,densely inhabited by many different tribes is located in the middle of Myanmar. Inle lake is a must for all Myanmar itineraries – at least 2 days to walk the village and tour the Inle lake, however you can easily spend weeks in this charming spot.

About 70,000 Inthars (people of the lake) live in 18 villages around the lake. Most of the Inthars are devout Buddhists thus a large number of Buddhist monasteries can be found int he area. The Inthars live in simple houses of wood and woven bamboo on stilts; they are largely self-sufficient farmers.

Local fishermen are known for practicing a distinctive rowing style which involves standing at the stern on one leg and wrapping the other leg around the oar. This unique style evolved for the reason that the lake is covered by reeds and floating plants making it difficult to see above them while sitting. Standing provides the rower with a view beyond the reeds.

Why Not Go

Great marketing tool, making the area a very touristy, commercialized area. Expensive accommodations are a norm! Nearby village of Nyaugshwe makes an interesting alternative.

High cost of boat (try to share with others), and entrance fees needed for the lake.

Inle Lake is a major tourist attraction, and this has led to some development of tourist infrastructure. Many small and large privately owned hotels and tour operations have arisen during the past few years. Local shops are flooded with consumer items, both local and foreign.

Why Go

Best Time to Visit

In September and October, the Phaung Daw U festival runs for nearly three weeks and is followed by the Thadingyut festival, one of Myanmar’s best-known events.

Always cooler, Inle gets downright chilly at night in January and February.

Traditional boat racing, with dozens of leg-rowers in Shan dress in a team on each boat, is a famous event during the Hpaung Daw U Festival.

Where to Stay

Where & What to Eat

Inle cuisine is different from Shan cuisine, as it incorporates local natural produce. The most well-known Inle dish would be the Htamin jin – a rice, tomato and potato or fish salad kneaded into round balls dressed and garnished with crisp fried onion in oil, tamarind sauce, coriander and spring onions often with garlic, Chinese chives roots (ju myit), fried whole dried chili, grilled dried fermented beancakes (pè bouk) and fried dried topu (topu jauk kyaw) on the side.

Inle lake is also the “pancake capital of Myanmar”, so be sure to try them!

Nightlife

My to do List

Do some hiking around Inle Lake

spend at least one full day exploring the northern half of the lake by boat, from Nyaungshwe or a lakeside hotel.

A trip to Sankar at the far south end of the lake area is highly recommended – more expensive but scenically beautiful and less touristed.

Rent a bike and cycle around!

Stay Away From

Getting There

The nearest airport is Heho which is 35 km away. There are flights from both Yangon and Mandalay. However, Taking a taxi from the airport can be quite expensive.

Yangon is 660 km distant by road, Mandalay 330 km.
Buses depart daily, and cost around US$20 from Yangon (13 hours) or time from Mandalay. A very slow and uncomfortable bus is available for $9 from Bagan.

Answer: Hi there, unfortunately that’s very true. When in Myanmar, they will check your USD / Euros with magnifying glaases, and tend to offer you lesser exchange rates for those “imperfect” notes, many times, they will even reject exchanging those, leaving you with lesser than expected budget for the trip!

So please do inform your bank ahead that you want new notes for your travel, this can be done a few weeks before your departure. (however that’s only viable if you are from the USA)

Here are some other travellers’ experiences with exchanging the USD

Now I’m back from Myanmar and can give my experiences. Nobody said anything about printing ink on my bills. Only time when they refused to change my 100USD bill was in Yangon airport because my note had AB series. I don’t know why it was a problem for them.But as only 200USD was changed per person I gave them another one with different series and with AB note just paid my travel agent bill later. In Yangon airport I saw that some people had folded notes and that wasn’t problem at all. At the same time in Mandaly airport they refused to take note with tiny color spot.

Yes, it could be a problem in a bank. We took USD2500 in brand new notes and three of the USD100 were refused because they had a small water stain in one corner (where the teller had used a wet sponge to count out the bills). You should still be able to offload slightly soiled bills at hotels – pay your final bill with them and tell them it’s all you have – they want the money! At the end of our trip I was asked by other travellers to change their dodgy notes for our left-over pristine ones = not a problem, our bank here in New Zealand has changed them all back to NZ dollars.

I brought about thirty 100 Dollar bills and went to the official money changers offices in Yangon at Thein Pyu Road. about half got rejected. I also brought Euro bills. 1 got rejected because the Euro flag had a small printing error. A miniscule line of a fraction of 1 millimeter had no ink. I needed a magnifiction glass to see it.

We took the best quality $US bills that I could find after trips to 3 Canadian banks. As we arrived in Yangon before the bank exchange at the airport opened, our guide took us to a bank. The woman barely glanced at the bills before giving us our crispy new 5000s. At a travel agency in Mandalay, the woman just ran the bills through a machine. No problem. We got fairly new 1000s. At a Mandalay bank there was a brief look at the bills but, again, no problem and all new 5000s.

We are 7 malaysians on a tour to Yangon-Bagan-Mandalay-Inle Lake for 6 days by Exoticmyanmar tours and Travels on-line agency from 14 to 19 January,2012. .We didn’t know that they are are so particular about the condition of the USD ; and also credit cards cannot be used .So , we had to settle @ a lower exchange rate @ 1 usd to 770 kyats for our less ” crisp and unsoiled usd notes. The money exchange bureau in the Yangon airport give a better exchange rate .

Answer: At this point in time, definitely NOT possible unless in very special cases. You will require a get a special permit, and probably have escorts (i actually met a cyclist who said he did that!). Your best option, is still to fly in and out of Myanmar.

What is the average entrance fees to sights in Myanmar and can i pay in USD or it is a must to use the local currency Kyats?

Answer

PKTan: Most of the entrance fees to sights must be paid in USD.
For Yangon : Shwedagon Pagoda USD 5, Botataung Pagoda USD 2, Sule USD 2, National Museum USD 5.

Mandalay : Zone fees USD 10, Amarapura, Sagaing, In-wa, Mingun for all 3

Bagan : Zone Fees USD 10, Archaeological Museum USD 5

Pindaya : USD 3, Inle Lake : USD 5, Bago USD 10, Golden Rock USD 6

Is it difficult to get a taxi from the airport to the hotels in Inle lake? My hotel is trying to charge me USD 68 one way from the airport! and how much time will it take from the airport? Please help!

Answer

PKTan: The boat transfer should cost around 8000-9000 Kyats (~10 USD) and it is relatively easy to find a taxi on your arrival at Heho and will cost you about 36 USD for Saloon Car.
Airport to boat jetty is around 45 minutes and then boat jetty to Paramount Inle is another 45 minutes. Most of the lake hotels , you have to go at least 30 minutes to 1 hr drive.

Only having very limited days in Burma, and wish to avoid the time spent on bus! Does anyone know how much flights from Yangon to Bagan return are?

Answer

PKTan: The prices varies a little, but for a return air ticket from Yangon to Bagan
Air Bagan – 192 dollars
Air KBZ – 178 dollars
Asian Wings – 186 dollars